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Flamboyant, wealthy, over-the-top personalities who say and do outrageous things are the focus of Bravo's new reality show Mexican Dynasties, which follows three famous families: the Allendes, the Bessudos and the Madrazos.

Looking to attract more Latinos and broaden its overall viewership with a new reality show about Mexican elites, Bravo, home of some of the most popular reality TV shows, including The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and its different city franchises, is betting that a show about rich, eccentric Mexicans will be a hit.

Well-known in their native Mexico, the elite families, whose fortunes stem from the entertainment, beverage and luxury car industries, and are interconnected through personal and professional relationships going back decades, will offer a glimpse at their outrageous lifestyles with humor, sometimes bordering on the absurd, and at times, eliciting a bit of shock: did they just say that?!

The show's tag line promotes the group's at times comedic and zany behavior: "Three family Dynasties, two generations of friends...one big family circus."

Outside of Mexico, the best known member of the cast is Fernando Allende, known as a film and television actor (a leading man on many Mexican telenovelas) and singer. The series follows him, his wife of 30 years, Mari, and their two children, Elán and Adán, who are trying to grow their music careers. But there's rivalry among the brothers and tension between Mari and her outspoken daughter-in-law Jenny Allende (wife of son Elán).

L to R: Doris and Raquel Bessudo.

Tommy Garcia/Bravo

Public Relations maven Doris Bessudo makes a temporary move from Beverly Hills to Mexico City to help her mother, fashion critic Raquel Bessudo, who is grieving the death of her husband of 58 years, but they quickly clash over their shared space and over her mother's criticism of her eating habits and fashion choices. Doris brings a connection to Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. She is the cousin of Kyle Richards's husband Mauricio Umansky, both of whom have been on that show since its first season.

Siblings Oscar and Paulina Madrazo do everything together - from co-parenting each other’s children to co-hosting their television show “Qué Madrazo.” The self-proclaimed “soul mates” share a zest for life and a bond that has some of the other cast members questioning the incestuousness of their relationship - out loud.

Fans of reality shows will more than likely be entertained by the series, which also aims to expose another side of Mexico and challenge stereotypes.

Bravo executives believe that timing, a desire to grow its Hispanic audience and continue to develop diverse reality content will strengthen their positioning as a more inclusive network.

"Our development team is always looking for the next big hit, a way to be different and to catch people's attention. We were intrigued with Mexico City. We feel it's in a Zeitgeist right now. It felt unexplored," explains Shari Levine, EVP of Current Production, Bravo Media, as to why they picked up the series. "It's such an amazing cast. The families literally leap off the screen. We think their personality and lifestyles transcend geography and cultures. We certainly hope it will not only appeal to the Hispanic community, but to our core viewers of all ethnicities. We really think the show has terrific growth potential."

Paulina and Oscar Madrazo.

Tommy Garcia/Bravo

Mexican Dynasties has a solid lead-in, which could help it attract a good audience. It will air Tuesdays at 10 p.m., following the hit reality series The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

Bravo reality shows already attract a fair share of Latino viewers. According to the network, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills S8 delivered a total audience of 3 million average viewers per episode, with Hispanics making up slightly more than 12% of its audience and Shahs of Sunset, about Persian-Americans in Beverly Hills, is Bravo's most Hispanic-skewing show, enjoying an 80% higher Hispanic audience concentration than the average cable program.

"The relatability of the cast, their vulnerabilities and extravagance of their personalities will feel like a must see show to people. It's such a fun watch, I can't imagine people not watching it," states Levine.

Mexican Dynasties is co-produced Campanario Entertainment, a development and production company co-founded by Jaime Dávila, former development executive at Bravo, and Jaime Dávila Sr., former Televisa COO and Univision President and Chairman. They currently also co-produce the Spanish-language format of “Nailed It!” for Netflix Mexico and are developing the official life story of Tejano music legend Selena Quintanilla.

The concept of Mexican Dynasties seems very close to that of Made in Mexico - a Netflix reality show that follows the lives of nine of Mexico City's rich and fashionable socialites, launched in September 2018.

I’m an Emmy award-winning multimedia journalist who has worked as a reporter, anchor, producer, columnist and writer for Spanish and English-language broadcast, print and

…

I’m an Emmy award-winning multimedia journalist who has worked as a reporter, anchor, producer, columnist and writer for Spanish and English-language broadcast, print and online media, including Univision, Telemundo, Fox’s KTTV in L.A., and the San Jose Mercury News, before moving into the digital news world.
An expert on Hispanic media, I’m the founder, Editor and Publisher of MediaMoves.com, a site dedicated to covering Latinos in the media and the issues that affect the industry since 2007. Due to my journalism experience and the popularity of my site Media Moves, I’ve built a solid reputation and wealth of contacts in the industry that has given me access to exclusives and key people in Hispanic media.
I’m a former national President of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) and a voracious consumer of media.